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Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5
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Hi guys.

I just wondering which watch I should take? Can you guys help me?
Why should i take the Garmin watch and why should i not?
Why should i take the Polar watch, and why should i not?

I hope you guys can help me

Thanks...
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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There is no comparison. This is like comparing my iPod to my in home stereo. What specific questions do you have when comparing the two?
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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I can tell you a bit about the rcx5 when I get back from dinner late tonight or tommorow morning.

__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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Viborgbonde wrote:
Hi guys.

I just wondering which watch I should take? Can you guys help me?
Why should i take the Garmin watch and why should i not?
Why should i take the Polar watch, and why should i not?

I hope you guys can help me

Thanks...

Garmin all-in one, no need for extra GPS, cycle speed sensors (cadence sensor needed) or footpod. Has approx 20 hours battery life when active. Cannot be worn as a 'dress' watch. . New 910 will (apparently) give you swim metrics - laps, strokes per length. Less expensive than Polar

Polar needs to have cycle speed sensors, foot pod and separate GPS. Can be worn as a 'dress' watch. More expensive than Garmin.

IMHO, it's hard to go past Garmin.

And of course there is the Timex GPS...

My advice - set yourself a budget and a wish list of features BEFORE you look at any device. Then see which one matches closest, then apply your preference. Each device has its strengths and weaknesses. Each device will have its advocates and haters.

Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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Hi,

I'm really satisfied with my Polar RCX5. Something like hearttouch is increadible smart, you can take your laptime just by moving the watch near the heartbelt, works everytime and you don't have to worry about missing a split!

Size-wize I really prefer the Polar since it's small and sleak and you can easily have it as your day to day watch, which in my case really increase the odds that I don't forget it on training seasons that don't start at home, since the watch is always with me. Some says it's clumpsy to have an external GPS, but I prefer to be able to choose to not have the GPS and an oversized watch at time when I don't use it. I use mostly the footpod which gives cadence which is more important for me.

Also prefer the wireless transfer on the polar which is really neat and the software. Kinda don't like to upload it to connect.garmin.com.

I think user interface are really good on both watches(rcx5 and 910xt). Havn't played around to much on the Garmin, but the RCX5 is super simple to use.

BR David

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http://www.nasvik.se
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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Edit to add first: obvious reasons I like Polar. But I just want to say I believe in Polar and use Polar and would use Polar and support them even if I was not connected to them. Just dumb luck I am. Using Polar watches I went from a 3:10 minute Olympic triathlon to a 2:27 minute oly. And from a 1:45 minute sprint to under a hour!!! Half IM.. I'm well.... I am still working on it if only not for the knarlie bike accident this June ;0) But one of the main factors my times have come down has been the polar watch that is always on my wrist. Even when I am making a interior attack in a fully involved house fire!!. Any way here are some other reasons
Rcx5 has a lot of memory
Battery life is long and user friendly.
Customer service will be the best hands down if you ever need to use them or if you just have a question.
Easy to use polar website for downloading your workouts and analyzing them.
Polar was one of the first HR monitors in the business and the most reliable.
If you go to a gym on a rainy day most likely your polar HR belt will work with the dreadmill or bike you are on.
Keeps track of your daily and weekly workouts
Visuabke and audible alarms when you exceed or fall below yout desied HR . (big in endurance longevity.)
Does a fitness test and tracks your progress.
Most comfortable HR belt in the industry.
And a big one for me is I can wear it out on the town and get compliments all night long on my watch. Just last night I got pulled over for not using my blinker( I did use it though I swear:0) and the officer complimented me on my watch and gave me a verbal "warning" and no ticket. Any other questions you have you can pm me

__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ
Last edited by: Bmanners: Nov 26, 11 18:22
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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So I'll jump in on this thread...I have the Polar RS800CX - used mainly for running since I have powertap on my bike with the "LYC" for all the metrics. I have loved polar from the beginning primarily due to customer service that is bar none the best I have ever experienced from any company in the world. However, with that being said I am in a delimma right now as well. I like the idea of the 910xt and am going round and round of whether to spend another $450 this year on a wrist unit that basically does the same thing. Then I thought...well...
Option 1: buy a 910xt and have electronic/information overload between the 2 devices and once and for all determine which one is better.
Option 2: buy the G5 GPS unit to pair with my Polar and then have basically everything the Garmin 910xt has that I would use it for. Yeah it's an external device I would have to wear, but I almost just want to do it and test it to see how accurate my footpod has been. Saves me $300 as well...that's a pair of shoes and a new helmet!

I have recently bought my wife a Garmin 405 just to test it out and see if I liked it. Ok..so Garmin is cool, but IMHO, slow to respond to speed changes, doesn't work well on tracks for interval workouts, HR monitoring is not near as good as Polar, Software is average at best...but there are pro's to garmin. Works with my ANT+ devices like powertap, has swimming metrics (which I likely wouldn't use honestly except in OWS training sessions to know how far I swam)...and probably a few other.

Polar - awesome software, HR top notch functions, batteries you can change yourself now, much longer battery life, new footpod is highly accurate (did mile repeats not long ago on a track and it was .001 accurate on every mile), footpod is lightweight compared to S1 and can be used indoors or outdoors, rain or shine, strap is very comfortable and reliable, watch is much smaller than other garmin watches and can wear anytime, the functions available are actually almost overwhelming there are so many options.

Do I want a garmin...sure...why do I want a garmin...honestly to see what all the hype is about and if it really compares to my polar, which I don't think it will honestly. I have tried my wife's garmin and honestly wasn't impressed nor did I like the brick on my wrist.

just my opinions
good luck with your decision. I think I just told myself what I really wanted to do with that $450.
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [tc_tri_texan] [ In reply to ]
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I am waiting for my Garmin......................Agree with the comment.."Polar customer service best bar none" Also liked the software with polar better (625 compared 305), ,,,,,Was going to go for the RX800, but with the swim metrics, which I will use a lot. Barometric alt compared to RX5, and Garmin wins,,,,,(if I already had the 800, I would by finis swimsense)
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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Kenny - My polar RS800CX has barometric alt and it works awesome.
Just my 2 cents. I'll probably stick with 800 for now. Swim is not my focus as I have reached a new major PR this past season at IM Distance on it and am quite happy with my swimming right now.
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [tc_tri_texan] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. Knew the 800 had it. Just cost of buying evrything was more than the 910 and RX5 did not have it, though cheaper. I really want to get 59 minutes or less this year in my IM swim. Hit 60 before. Plus it will be a help for others here training.
Happy racng
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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I understand about sub 60...I swam 56 this year, previous PR was 1:03. Good luck, hope it helps.
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [tc_tri_texan] [ In reply to ]
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56....................SWEET
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [tc_tri_texan] [ In reply to ]
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I love my RS800CX especially because I can wear it as an everyday watch but I have one problem that would drive me to the new Garmin but maybe you experts can help. My issue with the Polar is that it won't register heart rate while in the water and nor will it pick up HR when I exit the water without restarting the stop watch which is a real pain in a race. I have to race within strict upper HR limit due to health issues. I understand the Garmin won't have that issue. Am I missing something with the Polar?
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Mansfieldmike] [ In reply to ]
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Garmin, no hr in water.......Polar 800, no hr in water. wrong transmit freq
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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I thought HR in water was one of the breakthroughs Garmin was promoting with the new watch?
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Mansfieldmike] [ In reply to ]
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Nope.............But except for looking at after a race, I do not see why hr in the water matter, in the sense that I have not seen a strap that will stay on in training. Either it moves down when coming off the wall, or in open water by a hundred yards it comes down the chest....................unless training with a wetsuit on.
It is all the swim metrics that the 910 has
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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I don't use it when training in the pool - only racing. I just need it to display HR starting in T1. I can wait and only start the stopwatch function in T1 but then I lose the option to monitor my total time since I will not have the swim portion.
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Mansfieldmike] [ In reply to ]
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Oh.......910 will work.
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Mansfieldmike] [ In reply to ]
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Personally, I never saw the value in HR monitoring in the pool anyway...You can't really check it to see what zone you are in without slowing down or stopping to look right? If you are breathing hard or it feels hard...slow down. if you are working on getting faster, swim harder :)
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [tc_tri_texan] [ In reply to ]
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Normally I agree with you but firstly I am only looking for a watch that I can use in a race, start the timer at the beginning of the swim and then make sure it starts registering heart rate when I exit the water without having to restart the timer. Secondly actually I am most definately slightly unique in that after my heart attack 2 yrs ago I have a hard upper limit on my HR to be safe and so even in the water i need to be sure that I do not exceed it. But after manually taking my HR during training, I am pretty comfortable that in a longer distance swim I stay under my limit.

But sounds like the new Garmin should meet my needs. A second benefit of the Garmin watch will be that I will be able to monitor my HR on my Garmin 800 on my bike using the same strap which is easier than taking my hand off the bar to look at my watch all the time. Then I will be able to use the watch on the run, again using the same strap something I can't do with my current Polar.

Look for my RS800CX in the classifieds soon ;)
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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The question dosent matter, garmin is the answer. Tim
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Mansfieldmike] [ In reply to ]
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I agree - I hate stop/restart T1, stop/restart T2 for footpod. Also everytime I have replaced the footpod battery I have to mess with the prongs for a week until they work while running (I had to do this out of the box). I think same thing one time with watch battery. Gets old.

I happily have a 910 on order. All of my friends that converted have been totally happy. Like going from a Blackberry to an Droid/iPhone...
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Re: Garmin 910XT vs Polar RCX5 [Viborgbonde] [ In reply to ]
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from Garmin today

At this time, I regret to inform you that Forerunner 910XT w/HRM you ordered is on back order.
We apologize for any inconvenience. You can expect your order to ship within the week of 03/09/2012.

Darryl
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